Many applications, such as measurement systems, require that the lens properties of cameras are calibrated. Certain lens properties can affect the accuracy of images captured by a camera and can be difficult to detect. Accurate images captured by a camera can be used to calibrate other devices such as projectors, track objects, determine depth of objects, image stitching, three dimensional reconstruction, and so on. Given that the accuracy of the camera images are required in order to have accurate data entry into the other uses for the images, cameras are often required to be calibrated before use.
Conventional calibration methods are typically time intensive, cumbersome, and/or require specialized calibration hardware and software tools. One conventional calibration method requires a planar checkboard that is moved around by a user to different spatial locations around the camera. The user then captures images of the checkboard in the different locations and this information is used to determine the lens properties of the camera. While this technique can generate acceptable calibration results, it depends heavily on the experience of the user, is very time intensive, and requires a large amount of space in order to accurately calibrate the various lens properties of the camera.